Women's Tennis Season in Review

The University of Tulsa Women's Tennis team finished their 2016-17 season with a 20-8 overall record on their way to qualifying for their 11^th straight NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid. The Hurricane saw their streak of back-to-back American Athletic Conference Tournament titles came to an end in a 4-2 defeat to USF.

Tulsa opened up the season with a 4-0 record after winning their first four matches on their home court at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center before beating in-state rival Oklahoma on the road in February 4-0 to move to 9-2 on the year. After going 1-2 at the Blue and Grey Tennis Classic, Tulsa came back with a six match-winning streak that included wins over No. 13-ranked Baylor and conference foes USF and UCF.

The Hurricane closed out the regular season with back-to-back wins over Power Six competition in Minnesota on Senior Day and No. 3-ranked Kansas in the final match of the season. Tulsa continued their winning ways into The American Tennis Championship, dropping just one point in their first two wins over UCF and Cincinnati before eventually falling in the title match to USF.

The Hurricane looked to advance to the second round at the NCAA Tennis Championships for the second straight year as they took on No. 21-ranked LSU in Berkeley, Calif. on May 13. Tulsa built an early advantage after taking the doubles point before Vera Ploner and Martha Matoula picked up singles wins to go ahead 3-0. LSU's top-heavy lineup that featured three nationally ranked singles players set up a 4-3 comeback win.

As a team, Tulsa put together a 148-68 mark in singles play with a 64-40 record in doubles play. Five TU singles players recorded 20 or more wins on the year as Marcelina Cichon led the way with a 24-5 record while The American Co-Player of the Year Rongrong Leenabanchong went 23-10 with a 25-7 mark in doubles competition with Matoula.

Women's Tennis Season in Review

Players Mentioned

Marcelina Cichon

Rongrong Leenabanchong

Martha Matoula

Vera Ploner

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